Atwood v. Vilsack

• Decision Date: 30 September 2004
• Docket Number: No. 4:02 CV 90359.,4:02 CV 90359.
• Citation: 338 F.Supp.2d 985
• Parties: Wayne L. ATWOOD, et al., on behalf of themselves and those similarly situated, Plaintiffs, v. The Hon. Thomas J. VILSACK, et al., Defendants.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Southern District of Iowa

338 F.Supp.2d 985

Wayne L. ATWOOD, et al., on behalf of themselves and those similarly situated, Plaintiffs, v. The Hon. Thomas J. VILSACK, et al., Defendants.

No. 4:02 CV 90359.

United States District Court, S.D. Iowa, Central Division.

September 30, 2004.

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Patrick E. Ingram, Iowa City, IA, Randall C. Wilson, Des Moines, IA, for Plaintiffs.

Gordon E. Allen, Des Moines, IA, for Defendants.

ORDER ON PLAINTIFFS' MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT

PRATT, District Judge.

On July 23, 2002, numerous individuals detained pursuant to Iowa Code Chapter 229A filed a Complaint against the Defendants, seeking equitable and injunctive relief for: 1) denial of speedy justice and imposition of double jeopardy; 2) unnecessarily harsh and coercive conditions of confinement; 3) detention in contravention of statute; 4) failure to provide a therapeutically appropriate pre-commitment environment; 5) discriminatory treatment contravening the Americans with Disabilities Act; 6) denial of bail; 7) denial of individualized risk assessment and placement; and 8) denial of due process. The matter was certified as a class action in June 2003. Before the Court are Plaintiffs' Motion for Summary Judgment (Clerk's No. 45) and Plaintiffs' Motion to Certify the bail entitlement issue to the Iowa Supreme Court (Clerk's No. 69). Defendants have resisted the summary judgment motion and the matter is fully submitted.

I. FACTS

Plaintiffs in this action are "[a]ll present and future pretrial detainees held by the Iowa Department of Corrections, awaiting hearing on their Iowa Code Chapter 229A petition, or who were committed pursuant to Iowa Code Chapter 229A." See Class Definition filed 6/4/2003. Iowa Code Chapter 229A provides for the civil commitment of sexually violent predators. The legislative findings leading to enactment of Chapter 229A in 1998 are articulated in Section 229A.1:

The general assembly finds that a small but extremely dangerous group of sexually violent predators exists which is made up of persons who do not have a mental disease or defect that renders them appropriate for involuntary treatment pursuant to the treatment provisions for mentally ill persons under chapter 229, since that chapter is intended to provide short-term treatment to persons with serious mental disorders and then return them to the community. In contrast to persons appropriate for civil commitment under chapter 229, sexually violent predators generally have antisocial personality features that are unamenable to existing mental illness treatment modalities and that render them likely to engage in sexually violent behavior. The general assembly finds that sexually violent predators' likelihood of engaging in repeat acts of predatory sexual violence is high and that the existing involuntary commitment procedure under chapter 229 is inadequate to address the risk these sexually violent predators pose to society.

The general assembly further finds that the prognosis for rehabilitating sexually violent predators in a prison setting is poor, because the treatment needs of this population are very long-term, and the treatment modalities for this population are very different from the traditional treatment modalities available in a prison setting or for persons appropriate for commitment under chapter 229. Therefore, the general assembly finds that a civil commitment procedure for the long-term care and treatment of the sexually violent predator is necessary. The procedures regarding sexually violent predators should reflect legitimate public safety concerns, while providing treatment services designed to benefit sexually violent predators who are civilly committed. The procedures should also reflect the need to protect the public, to respect the needs of the victims of sexually violent offenses, and to encourage full, meaningful participation of sexually violent predators in treatment programs.

Iowa Code § 229A.1 (2004).

Defendants in this action are various persons or entities responsible for the implementation of Chapter 229A. The Iowa Department of Corrections ("IDOC"), under the authority of its director, W.L. Kautzky,¹ has assumed de facto responsibility and custody of the class members in this action, hereinafter referred to as the "Safekeepers," or simply as "Plaintiffs." Chapter 229A provides that the agency with jurisdiction over potential candidates for commitment as Sexually Violent Predators ("SVPs"), generally the IDOC, must provide written notice to the attorney general and a multidisciplinary team² no later than ninety days prior to:

a. The anticipated discharge of a person who has been convicted of a sexually violent offense from total confinement, except that in the case of a person who is returned to prison for no more than ninety days as a result of revocation of parole, written notice shall be given as soon as practicable following the person's readmission to prison.

b. The discharge of a person who has been charged with a sexually violent offense and who has been determined to be incompetent to stand trial pursuant to chapter 812.

c. The discharge of a person who has been found not guilty by reason of insanity of a sexually violent offense.

Iowa Code § 229A.3(1). Within thirty days of receiving notice that an individual is a candidate for SVP commitment, the multidisciplinary team "shall assess whether or not the person meets the definition of a sexually violent predator."³ Iowa Code § 229A.3(4)(1). A review committee appointed by the attorney general then must review the records of each SVP candidate, including the assessment of the multidisciplinary team, to determine whether the individual qualifies as a sexually violent predator. Iowa Code § 229A.3(5).

If the prosecutor's review committee finds that a confined person qualifies as an SVP, the attorney general may then file a petition alleging that the person is an SVP and stating the facts supporting the allegation. Id. at 229A.4(1).⁴ Once a petition is filed, a court must determine whether the individual should be transferred to "an appropriate secure facility." Within seventy-two hours of being taken into custody or transferred to such "appropriate secure facility," a court hearing must be held wherein a determination is made as to whether probable cause exists to believe that the person named in the petition is an SVP. Id. at 229A.5(1). The hearing may be waived by the accused SVP or may be continued by either party upon a showing of good cause. Id. at 229A.5(2). If, after the hearing, the court determines that probable cause exists, the court "shall direct that the respondent be transferred to an appropriate secure facility for an evaluation as to whether the respondent is a sexually violent predator." Id. at 229A.5(5). Within ninety days of a waiver of the probable cause hearing, or of the conclusion of the probable cause hearing, a trial will be held to determine, beyond a reasonable doubt, whether the respondent is an SVP. Id. at 229A.7(2). "The trial may be continued upon the request of either party and a showing of good cause...." Id. If a determination is made, beyond a reasonable doubt, that the respondent is an SVP, the person "shall be committed to the custody of the director of the department of human services for control, care, and treatment until such time as the person's mental abnormality has so changed that the person is safe to be at large." Id. at 229A.7(3). Chapter 229A provides that the determination that an individual is an SVP may be appealed and that each person committed under Chapter 229A shall have an annual review of their mental abnormality. See id. at 229A.7(3); 229A.8(1).

II. STANDARD FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT

Summary judgment has a special place in civil litigation. The device "has proven its usefulness as a means of avoiding full-dress trials in unwinnable cases, thereby freeing courts to utilize scarce judicial resources in more beneficial ways." Mesnick v. General Elec. Co., 950 F.2d 816, 822 (1st Cir.1991). In operation, the role of summary judgment is to pierce the boilerplate of the pleadings and assay the parties' proof in order to determine whether trial is actually required. See id.; see also Garside v. Osco Drug, Inc., 895 F.2d 46, 50 (1st Cir.1990). "[S]ummary judgment is an extreme remedy, and one which is not to be granted unless the movant has established his right to a judgment with such clarity as to leave no room for controversy and that the other party is not entitled to recover under any discernible circumstances." Robert Johnson Grain Co. v. Chemical Interchange Co., 541 F.2d 207, 209 (8th Cir.1976) (citing Windsor v. Bethesda Gen. Hosp., 523 F.2d 891, 893 n. 5 (8th Cir.1975)). The purpose of the rule is not "to cut litigants off from their right of trial by jury if they really have issues to try." Poller v. Columbia Broad. Sys., Inc., 368 U.S. 464, 467, 82 S.Ct. 486, 7 L.Ed.2d 458 (1962) (quoting Sartor v. Arkansas Natural Gas Corp., 321 U.S. 620, 627, 64 S.Ct. 724, 88 L.Ed. 967 (1944)). Rather, its purpose is to avoid "useless, expensive and time-consuming trials where there is actually no genuine, factual issue remaining to be tried." Anderson v. Viking Pump Div., Houdaille Indus., Inc., 545 F.2d 1127, 1129 (8th Cir.1976) (citing Lyons v. Board of Educ., 523 F.2d 340, 347 (8th Cir.1975)).

The plain language of Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 56(c) mandates the entry of summary judgment, after adequate time for discovery and upon motion, against a party who fails to make a showing sufficient to establish the existence of an element essential to that party's case, and on which that party will bear the burden of proof at trial. See Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 322, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986). The precise standard for granting summary judgment is well-established and oft-repeated: summary judgment...